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Alaska waterways
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On Saturday, June 30, we again spent some time looking for wildlife. There was a
surprising lack of game; both Dave Cline and Scott Grundy felt that game should
have been in the area. We broke camp and proceeded downriver. The sky was clear
and we were still in the mountains; exceptionally beautiful country.
The current was still fast and lining was not required as the river was of
sufficient depth for canoes. On a bluff rising from the river on the right bank
we saw our first game; a cow moose with a calf. This was at Mile 42. The moose
saw us and went north along the top of the bluff and over the ridge. Two miles
further on we rounded a bend and saw the moose and calf in the river. We
silently glided past, pulled to an island and got out to photograph the animals,
getting several shots. At this point we were just beginning to leave the d -2
block and entering the native regional deficiency.
As we entered regional deficiency lands, we were approaching a large auf eis
area. Although we had been passing much auf eis up to this point we had no
trouble getting through and staying on the main channel. At about Mile 39, the
three canoes were about 25 yards apart, picking their way through the braided
stream. At Mile 37, we pulled up in the left bank to wait for the other canoes.
The second canoe followed within two minutes, but the third didn't. We climbed a
bluff and could make out the third canoe along the right bank, nearly three
miles across the braided river, following a lead through the ice. We signaled
with a yellow coat and they waved a paddle. Our two canoes moved on downriver to
below the Saviakviayak River where only one channel came out of the auf eis, and
waited. After 40 minutes Marv Hathhorn and I decided to walk back the right bank
and see if the lead they were following closed and locked them in. From the
bluffs above the river we saw the third canoe, they had found a lead through the
ice and were in the main channel. We went back to the canoes and made camp.
On Sunday, July 1, we decided to hike back upriver to the base of the mountains
where a warm spring was reported to be located. At 0700, heavy fog filled the
valley but by 0930 it lifted somewhat. At 1150 we began the 16-mile walk.
Walking was necessary because we were unable to approach the spring location
from the river the day before due to the ice field. The team split up into two
groups of three, one group to go to the base of the mountain and the other to go
up Kashivi Creek to the cottonwoods and see if a spring was there. (We thought
the cottonwoods were a likely place for the springs in case they could not be
found at the mountain.) I was with the group going to the mountain and on the
way over the tundra
we found a pingo, a large mound of earth forced up 10 feet by ice. The top had
split open and we could see the mound was practically hollow where the ice had
melted inside. Deep inside the mound about 8 feet down, was a pool of water over
solid ice. We pushed on over the tundra and through muskeg and came to the base
of the mountain at 1515; the eight-mile walk took 3 hours and 25 minutes. We
found the warm spring and took its temperature, a tepid 48" F. Thus, our hopes
for a bath were dashed. Although 48" isn't warm in July, if the temperature is
constant, the spring would flow throughout the winter. This would account for
the immense ice field just below on the Ivishak. We walked back to camp arriving
at 1900; total elapsed time for the sixteen-mile stroll was seven hours and ten
minutes. The wind had risen along the river while we were gone and the tents had
moved slightly (just over a foot) even with all packs and duffle inside. Had the
tents been empty they might have blown into the river. The wind was not felt
back in the swales east of the river. we sacked out at 2230. Thus ended our day
of rest.
Monday morning, July 2, was overcast but by the time we broke camp and got on
the river, the clouds had dissipated. At Mile 28, we stopped to examine a rough
legged hawk nest on the bluff. We climbed a hill on the left bank and. hiked
back to several ponds, which were shown, on the maps. From the hilltop we took
several photos of the river and the surrounding countryside.
After lunch at the base of the bluff, we were canoeing down the river channel
and spooked a lone caribou on a gravel bar at Mile 26. For two miles he ran
ahead of us while one canoe went down the left side of the bar and the other two
canoes on the right. Finally, he swam the river and climbed the bluffs on the
right, stopped when he felt safe and watched us drift on downriver.
The evening of July 2, we camped opposite the mouth of Gilead Creek. All of this
day's travel was in native regional deficiency land. Terrain to the north was
flat; east and west of us were rolling foothills but to the south we could still
see Philip Smith Mountains in the distance. Although we took several hours out
for hiking back to the lakes and climbing the bluffs, we still covered 15 miles.
The current was fast, over 6 knots.
We slept late on July 3; didn't get up till 0830. There was a clear sky and a
headwind (North wind). The current offset the headwind so it was not difficult
to make progress downriver. At Mile 10, we found 3 caribou on an island. They
wandered off in no great hurry when they saw us. At Mile 9, the map indicates a
VABM site on the left bank on top of a bluff. I climbed the bluff and located
the marker, a "Corps of Engineers Station Designator elevation 1022'which was
erected in 1955. I found a 5-gallon gas can and other trash left behind by, pre-sumably,
the Corps when they erected the marker eighteen years ago. On the face of the
bluff we found another rough legged hawk nest and got some photos of it. We
began to hear aircraft overhead, Sagwon or Deadhorse flights we assumed.
At Mile 8, we easily located the abandoned Mobil Oil Company exploratory well.
Not only a well but also several acres of graded land where quarters had been,
and a landing strip. There was some trash in various locations and we got photos
of the entire layout.
There was auf eis below the oil well and the river had been diverted through the
brush on the left bank. Lining was required to negotiate this area. At Mile 6 we
set up camp on the right bank below Echooka Creek.
July 4 was a sunny, warm day with the temperature reaching 76o in the -shade of
the tent. As we were due for a pick up on the 5th, we stayed in camp;
fortunately for us we did. Heavy wind suddenly came up at 1530 and we had to sit
in the tents to hold them down. The temperature dropped 34F in 30 minutes, then
the rain hit, hard. It rained all afternoon and all night. One canoe was blown
50 feet by the wind; we re-tied them to brush and stayed put.
July 5
Wind and rain and cold. Everybody in tents and reading. The chopper due to pick
us up didn't arrive for obvious reasons,
July 6
Rain, on and off all day. Finally, at 2300 the chopper arrived and shuttled us,
in three trips, to Deadhorse.
On July 7, a DC-3 picked us up at 1410 and flew us to Fort Yukon where we spent
the night at the BLM fire camp.
July 8 was a fair day; we left Fort Yukon at 1145 and arrived in Anchorage at
1455.
Ivishak River [590 kb]
List of rivers for which information is available on this website
Alagnak River | Alatna River | American Creek | Andreafsky River | Aniakchak River | Awuna River | Beaver Creek | Black River | Bremner River | Canning River | Charley River | Chilikadrotna River | Chitina River | Colville River | Copper River | Delta River | Fortymile River | Gulkana River | Huslia River | Ivishak River | John River | Kakhonak River | Kanektok River | Karluk River | Kasegaluk Lagoon | King Salmon River | Kobuk River | Koyukuk River North Fork | Little Susitna River | Mulchatna River | Nigu Etivluk rivers | Noatak River | Nowitna River | Nuyakuk River | Porcupine River | Saganirktok River | Salmon River (Kobuk) | Selawik River | Sheenjek River | Squirrel River | Talachulitna River | Tlikakila River | Togiak River | Unalakleet River | Utukok River
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